The Lawson Crew were all Sergeants or Flight Sergeants as listed for their Ops in the 462 Squadron Operational Record Book. Only Officers were named in Postings TO or FROM the squadron, so their arrival was not recorded. However their first Op was on 14 November 1943, flying from Terria, and they carried out a further 5 Ops from Terria in December 1943. The crew relocated with 462 Squadron to El Adem by 01 January 1944, and they carried out 3 Ops in January, and 2 in February 1944 (see Ops listings in later section).
This crew also relocated with 462 Squadron to Italy on 01 March 1944, where the squadron was renamed 614 Squadron.
This crew was Killed on Operations on the night of 15/16 March 1944.

Information was sourced from the 462 Squadron Operational Record Book (ORB) for 1943 and 1944 from the National Archives of Australia; Commonwealth War Graves Commission; and from the Frederick Henry Worthington Archives (with thanks to his son Terry Worthington). Thanks also go to the family of F/Eng David John (Jack) Lewis (his son DJ, and DJ's sister C. Squibb) who have identified Jack and other crew members from their same set of photos.

If anyone can assist with identification of crew members in the photos shown below, or can provide photos or information about members of this crew – please make contact.

Above: Five members of the Lawson Crew of 462 Squadron (RAAF), in flying gear, beside the rear gun turret of their aircraft, not dated, but appears to have been taken on the same day & time as the adjacent photo), left to right:

On 15 Jan and 9 Feb the Rear Gunner was also D R WilliamsOn 9 Jan and 4 Feb the Rear Gunner was F/Lt Leonard Charles Doak
Rear Gunner on 11 and 12 December 1943 was F/Sgt L Rackham, no other details recorded, but sometimes recorded as RCAF.

Photo from the Frederick Henry Worthington Archives

Above: Five members of the Lawson Crew of 462 Squadron (RAAF), some of their flying gear removed,beneath the nose of their aircraft, not dated, left to right:

Seven bombs are visible in the nose art. They usually depict the number of Ops for that aircraft. The Lawson crew was flying in BB446 for its Op Numbers 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, and 14 at 462 Sqdn, from Terria (1943) and El Adem (1944). This photo may therefore have been taken on 05 January 1944 at El Adem, for the aircraft's Op 8; or 09 Jan 1944 for aircraft's 9th Op. No other aircraft flown by the Lawson crew matches so conveniently for Op numbers and dates. However the Rear Gunner on 05 Jan was David Roland Williams; and on 09 Jan was L C Doak; whose names do not appear to match "Larry" as recorded in the Lewis family photos.

Photo from the Frederick Henry Worthington Archives

Three members of the Lawson Crew of 462 Squadron (RAAF), on leave at Alexandria, Egypt, date not known.

Name: Lyle Anzac LAWSON
Service: Royal Australian Air Force
Service Number: 414243
Date of Birth: 12 December 1915
Place of Birth: Murwillumbah, New South Wales
Date of Enlistment: 17 August 1941
Place of Enlistment: Brisbane, Queensland
Next of Kin: Merle LAWSON
Date of Death: 16 March 1944
Rank at Death: Pilot Officer
Posting at Death: 614 'County of Glamorgan' Squadron (RAF)

Name: James Martin WITHERS
Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Service Number: 1318127
Date of Birth: .....
Place of Birth: .....
Date of Enlistment: .....
Place of Enlistment: .....
Next of Kin: James WITHERS
Date of Death: 15 March 1944
Rank at Death: Flight Sergeant
Posting at Death: 614 Squadron (RAF)

AWM caption: Evans Head, NSW. Group portrait of participants on a course at the RAAF Bombing and Gunnery School, 30 July 1941.
Back row, 2nd from right, with blue circle: 405905 Leading Aircraftman (later Warrant Officer) Vivian Dickson (killed on operations 16 March 1944).
The names of the other 10 airmen are included on the AWM website.

Bomb Aimer

Name: Vivian DICKSON(Dicky)
Service: Royal Australian Air Force
Service Number: 405905
Date of Birth: 16 March 1920
Place of Birth: Brisbane, Qld
Date of Enlistment: 22 June 1941
Place of Enlistment: Brisbane, Qld
Next of Kin: James DICKSON
Date of Death: 16 March 1944
Rank at Death: Warrant Officer
Posting at Death: 614 Squadron (RAF)

Age at Death: 24
Grave reference: No known grave
Commemorated at Malta Memorial, Malta: Panel 16, Column 1
Roll of Honour: Panel 121, Commemorative Area,
Australian War Memorial, Canberra
Son of James Alexander and Sarah Ann DICKSON, of Bilinga, Qld

Son of Mrs J C WILLIAMS, of Rhewl, Llangollen, DenbighshireReturn to Top

Flight Engineer

Name: David John LEWIS (Jack)
Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Service Number: 1583102
Date of Birth: .....
Place of Birth: .....
Date of Enlistment: .....
Place of Enlistment: .....
Next of Kin: Doreen LEWIS
Date of Death: 15 March 1944
Rank at Death: Sergeant
Posting at Death: 614 Squadron (RAF)

Son of David and Elizabeth Mary LEWIS
Husband of Doreen Mary LEWIS, of Rubery, Warwickshire Return to Top

Additional Crew Information
The Service Files and Casualty Files for Pilot Lawson have been sourced from the National Archives of Australia, and information may be added to this page for later monthly updates. Please visit again.

Lawson Crew Ops at 462 Squadron – transcribed form the 462 Squadron Operational Record Book. Some of the pages are badly faded, or are very poor quality carbon copies (some 1943 originals had been created using very worn carbon paper), so some words are almost illegible.
My apologies for any transcriptions errors.

Pilot Lawson and his usual crew – 11 Ops together. From the table below, it can be seen that 7 of their 11 Ops were in Halifax BB446.

Date

Op No

A/C Serial

Code Z5-

Up

Down

Target

Op Type

Comments

14/11/1943

1

BB425

?

0012

0830

Maritza Aerodrome, Rhodes

Bombing

From Terria;
bombed target; returned safely to base.
1 of 4 aircraft detailed.

Halifax BB446 Ops at 462 Squadron. The Lawson crew flew BB446 for 7 of the aircraft's 15 Ops at 462 Squadron. This may be the aircraft shown in on of the crew photos, showing nose art with 7 bombs (= 7 Ops).

Date

Op No

Pilot

Up

Down

Target

Comments

18/11/1943

1

Dalton

0135

0745

Candia Harbour, Crete

From Terria

21/11/1943

2

Dalton

0135

0707

Heraklion aerodrome, Crete

From Terria; one flak hole in port aerleron (sic, aileron)

06/12/1943

3

Potts

1823

0123

Salamis, Greece

From Terria

08/12/1943

4

Lawson

1744

2355

Candia, Crete

From Terria

11/12/1943

5

Lawson

2328

0453

Suda Bay
Flak Defences, Crete

From Terria

12/12/1943

6

Lawson

1814

2348

Suda Bay Shipping, Crete

From Terria

19/12/1943

7

Juggins

2352

0640

Salamis, Greece, flak & searchlights

From Terria;
Aircraft in searchlights beams twice, approached by single-engine enemy fighter but no attack made

05/01/1944

8

Lawson

2010

0218

Rhodes Harbour Defences

From El Adem

09/01/1944

9

Lawson

2302

0425

Salamis, attack flak & searchlights

From El Adem

1101/1944

10

Dalton

1826

2357

Piraeus Harbour Installations, Greece

From El Adem; Icing in cloud

15/01/1944

11

Lawson

2238

0455

Piraeus Harbour Installations, Greece

From El Adem

23/01/1944

12

Dalton

2353

0351

Piraeus Harbour Installations, Greece

From El Adem;
early return, abandoned due to oxygen failure

01/02/1944

13

Dalton

1843

2301

Suda Bay, Crete

From El Adem;

04/02/1944

14

Lawson

1749

2313

Nickel Raid on Piraeus area

From El Adem

09/02/1944

15

Dalton OR
Hall

1747

2140

Candia Harbour, Crete

From El Adem;
two crews both listed for the same aircraft,
times listed for Dalton as the most likely Pilot

This Crew's final Op was on the night of 15/16 March 1944, tasked with bombing the marshalling yards in Sofia, Bulgaria. They were flying in Halifax BB446 as they had done on many previous Ops at 462 Squadron, and took off at 2255 on 15 March from 614 Squadron's base at Celone, Italy. The aircraft was seen to be shot down over Sofia. In 1948 it was reported that following an investigation and enquiries in the Sofia area, no trace of an aircraft or crew could be found.

As they had no known graves, they are commemorated on the Malta Memorial, which is situated in the area of Floriana. It can be identified by the Golden Eagle which surmounts the column, and stands just outside the main entrance to Valletta. Please refer to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website for further details and a photo of this Memorial.

For reasons unknown, the two RAAF members of the crew, Lawson and Dickson, have their death recorded as 16 March 1944. However the four RAFVR crew members, Lewis, Withers, Williams and Worthington, all have their death recorded as 15 March 1944.

More information from the A705 Casualty file for Pilot Lawson may be added for later site updates. Please visit again.